Depression and Grief after the Albany Park Flood

(Our personal Albany Park flood story, complete with pictures, starts at Albany Park floods-- Record-breaking rains. )

We've lost our home.

Well, that's a bit melodramatic. Our roof is still over our head; no windows have been broken, and the outside, everything looks the same... The flower beds blooming brightly, the front lawn still looks pretty as I mowed it and edged it last Thursday, the day before the last day of normalcy.

Our loss pales in comparison to that experienced in Galveston, and to that experienced in other parts of our neighborhood.

The homes on the block south of us flooded so quickly that people had no time to get anything out. They described water coming down the gangways and steps like a waterfall. Water came in through the windows into the garden apartments of homes on the 5100 block of Avers, just a couple of blocks west of us. They were taking people out of their homes on boats.

And, of course, we are fine and our dogs are fine. We just have to keep them out of the basement.

But loss is loss and grief is grief. Anyone who goes through such a flood, such a loss, will grieve the loss of the home they had. The good old comfortable sofa is water-logged and will be tossed. My beautiful teak double dresser, a beautiful piece of furniture that has followed me from home to home for 30 years is ruined.

We are in disarray, and though we have our electricity back, we still have no hot water.

It's still a shock to go down into the basement, and we still can't find anything.

(Next part of the Albany Park Flood Story: Chicago River overflows: Refugees in our own home. )